Every house in Taoyuan Village was a distance away from each other and Song Jin stayed especially far from everyone else. To come here looking for someone for the first time would indeed be a challenge.
Thankfully, they found his place and their search was fruitful.
They saw an old courtyard and a smoking chimney on the roof of a house not too far away. Behind the house was a dense forest with paddy fields as its backdrop and they could hear the contented hums of an old cow from inside the courtyard.
"Vast forests with wild borders, paddy fields by the home; a home within ten acres of a few houses around; willows shading the home with peaches before it; in a distant village sits one's house, smoke billowing from its chimney... Huh, it looks like Elder Song is Tao Yuanming's fan!" Ning Xi laughed.
After running around for the entire day, Gong Shangze was about to fall over from fatigue, yet he turned to see that Ning Xi was unexpectedly still energetic and had even recited such eloquent poetry, rendering him really speechless...
There was no door to the courtyard. It was a fence that had been set up with some wood and the two of them tidied themselves up before walking to the wooden door.
"Hello, is Elder Song at home?" Gong Shangze asked towards the direction of the courtyard.
There were no signs of movement from inside. However, from the looks of the active chimney, there should definitely be someone at home.
The two of them called out a few more times and a short while later, a shadow walked out from the inside. The person wore a rough-looking long robe. He had a white beard and a hearty spirit, almost appearing to be one of those immortal folks.
When she saw Song Jin himself, Ning Xi's heart skipped a beat.
The elder obviously looked like someone with no worldly desire or intention to seek for anything; such people were the hardest to settle!
"Elder Song!" Gong Shangze was Song Jin's ultimate fan. His fatigue instantly vanished at the sight of his idol as he said emotionally, "Elder Song, I'm really sorry to randomly disrupt your peace and quiet. My name is Gong Shangze and I'm a designer. I really love your work! You're my favorite calligrapher and I've even collected your perfect work of 'Ten Frogs' before this..."
Gong Shangze truly qualified as a fan. He was very familiar with Song Jin's work and the passion and emotion in his eyes were genuine and naive. From Ning Xi's perspective, if such a cute and passionate fan had come all the way to meet her, she would at least invite them in for a cup of tea.
"There's no calligrapher here, only an old man. Please leave."
As he watched the door ruthlessly close, Gong Shangze looked disappointed. "Even though I already prepared ahead..."
Ning Xi patted him on the shoulders. "It's okay, at least you got to see your idol once!"
Gong Shangze regained his spirits and announced, "I want to wait for a while more."
Ning Xi had the same plan too. "Then, let's wait a while longer! Maybe Elder Song will be willing to meet us when he sees how sincere we are!"
They waited outside the door until the sun had gone down.
When she saw that the sky was getting darker, Ning Xi sighed, "Even the heavens are uncooperative now! There should be a downpour at this moment to offset the mood!"
However, the weather was not cooperative and not a drop of rain fell until the end of the night. Of course, they also did not wait for Song Jin to change his mind.
"Shangze, let's come again tomorrow! If we leave later, we won't be able to catch the last bus!"
Even though Gong Shangze was reluctant to leave, they had no other choice.